


Same Time, Different Face

by CyberSearcher



Category: Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Anxiety Attacks, Fluff, Gen, Genderfluid Character, Genderfluid Eret, Hurt/Comfort, because we need it, no beta we die like... well everyone on the 16th I guess
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-14
Updated: 2021-01-14
Packaged: 2021-03-18 17:02:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,768
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28746636
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CyberSearcher/pseuds/CyberSearcher
Summary: Eret realizes that after Tubbo’s speech and their - temporary and extremely unreliable - alliance against Dream and Techno, Ranboo’s gone missing. They decide to check up on him.
Relationships: Eret & Ranboo (Video Blogging RPF), Minor or Background Relationship(s)
Kudos: 196





	Same Time, Different Face

**Author's Note:**

> Funnly this was started before the 16th and... MAN. So have some bandages for the bullet wounds as Eret once again attempts to be a decent father. Which isn’t a high bar but if anyone can raise it it’s the bicon with platform heels. 
> 
> Honestly between him and Fundy Eret’s just been taking all the Hybrids under his wing...
> 
> **I THINK I HAVE A NEW AU**

No one was okay after everything that had happened. 

Eret did their best not to think about it. After Tubbo’s speech - he was getting good at those - they dug through all the chests in their castle to try and find something to combat Dream and Techno.

When he passed the throne, they gave an involuntary shiver. Eret could _hear_ Dream’s voice hissing over his ear. In that moment though, he let himself feel satisfied. 

“Guess who’s still king now, you green fuck.” She grinned. 

The happiness didn’t last long. He didn’t want to think about what would happen if L’manbeurg did fall tomorrow. He didn’t want to think about Dream turning his hollow gaze towards his castle. Climbing to the walls of his castle, he could see the dozens of other buildings built along the Prime Pathway. 

Her fingers clenched the stone. If Eret stared for long enough, she could see the black tendrils of wither as it ate away at her skin, taste the ashes of death and feel broken rubble under her feet. Her eyes began to sting. 

He exhaled. “It’s gonna be worth it, either way. One last sunrise.” 

They found a decent stash of diamonds, extra bottles, food and plenty of miscellaneous resources. Eret gathered everything they could at the front of their castle, then took what they could carry to the rally point. 

There were others passing through the gate, carrying weapons, spare armour and enchanted books. There was a new wall too, filled with a hastily scratched list of things they needed. Already someone had vandalized it with curse-word filled insults directed towards Dream. Under normal circumstances, they’d be directed at each other. 

She could feel eyes staring behind her back. Dumping everything into their chests, he turned and found Fundy looking him up with crossed arms. 

“Um, I know you mentioned wanting obsidian. I couldn’t find any, but I’ve got some extra ghast tears.” He offered. 

“Yea, that’s good.” Fundy said curtly. His tail was twitching erratically, beating against his armour. 

They sighed quietly, words sticking up and down their mouth and throat like a spiderweb. 

“Is there anything else I can do?” He tried. “I could ask Niki to see if she wanted to bake someth - “ 

“I don’t know what you’re trying to do, but it doesn’t matter,” Fundy waved his hand and shoved them out of his way, pulling out the obsidian, “you better be with us a hundred percent this time. No one’s gonna want you around if you sell us out to Dream.” 

Eret tensed. Anyone who was watching immediately pretended they weren’t. There wasn’t anything she could say in response and was left watching her almost-son turn to leave the compound. She couldn’t bring herself to go after him. 

He pulled off his crown and shook out his hair, slightly greasy with sweat. He then noticed Hbomb hovering near the edge of his vision. 

“Hey, you haven’t seen Ranboo around here, have you?” He asked, eyebrows pinched. “After he said - I haven’t seen him anywhere. I heard Quackity wants to execute him and I sent him a message, but he didn’t say much.” 

“Where did you see him last?” They asked. 

“Uh, last I checked it was over the blackstone pyramid. Near the river, I think.

His mind was flashing back to the last things the hybrid had said. It hurt, but in some ways, it felt too familiar. Eret couldn’t blame him for being a traitor, he of all people knew the temptation. But Ranboo was different. 

He could remember the naked fear on his face; his shaking breath, how the boy kept his distance as they argued, his arms shaking and struggling to stay pinned to his sides. 

She wished she could’ve said something more - actually gone after him. 

“Thanks H.” They said. “I’ll keep him safe.” 

Finding Ranboo’s trail wasn’t as difficult as he thought it would be. After some general searching, he found patches of scorched grass with the embers still spinning into the air. The path continued up a hill and along the banks of a lake hidden by a hill. 

Her boots sunk into the muddy silt, seaweed and sticks poking through the ground. The trail of burned grass was less visible and she wondered if Ranboo had passed through this way to intentionally hide his tracks. The idea set off all sorts of paranoid thought she tried to push away. 

It only worried them more when the trail seemed to just stop. They checked the area and looked for any sort of upturned dirt that would signal a hidden base. 

“Ranboo?” He called. “Don’t worry, I’m not mad, I’m just here to talk.” 

She couldn’t hear anything either, other than the far off sounds of everyone else preparing. Eret knelt in the sand and glanced over the water, recalling that Technoblade had managed to hide one base underwater. 

They saw that there was a small waver in the way the light passed under the murky water, just enough to show that there were chunks of obsidian lying under the lake. Holding their breath and diving, they could see the entrance to what looked like an obsidian box. Eret tried to make out any sort of hidden redstone before stepping inside. 

Ranboo was curled against the furthest corner of the room. She couldn’t tell where the new, erie sound was coming from until she realized it was from the boy, hiccuping in the garbled language of endermen. Through the noise, she could make out a broken string of words. 

“I don’t know - it’s not him. Did I - I don’t know if it’s not him so was it me? I don’t know, I don’t know, I don’t know.” 

Eret felt frozen. She didn’t even know if Ranboo knew she was here. She stepped back and kneeled down to his level, trying to find something to say. 

“Can you hear me?” They asked. “Ranboo? It’s me, Eret. Can you look at me?” 

Green and red eyes peeked up, distant and blurry with tears. “Y - you? No, no I don’t know if you’re real. How do I know you’re here? What if Dream sent - it’s always him. Why can’t they tell it’s always _him?_ ” 

“Ranboo,” He tried to place an arm on his, but stopped when he curled in tighter and hid his face, “okay, okay. I’m sorry.” 

This sort of helplessness was a unique and terrible kind of thing to suffer. Eret tried to think of something to do, anything that could be used to comfort the boy crying by himself in the dark. 

“If you want, I could help you make another memory journal? There’s some extra books back at my castle and the walls are pretty solid. Uh, the view is pretty nice.” 

Ranboo shifted his arms enough to expose the worn leather cover of the book he squeezed against his chest. “How do I know - I don’t. I don’t know, I can't know, how can I tell you’re real?” 

Another stab of exquisite pain pierced Eret’s heart. He reached up and laid his glasses on the damp obsidian floor. The soft glow of his eyes clashed with the deep violet walls and dripping particles. 

They nudged their glasses by Ranboo’s foot. “It’s me. I’m real.” 

Ranboo was still whispering incoherently, but the hybrid kept running his hands over the lenses of her glasses. 

“Do you wanna go out? My castle is still technically neutral ground.” He paused. “Dream won’t be there.” 

He nodded, still clutching the glasses as he sat up against the obsidian. 

“Okay.” 

The two swam out and once they were on the Prime Path, they both did their best not to turn around and linger on the people still frantically filling the chests. Gunpowder and sweat lingered in their clothes even once the castle came into view. The colorful flag and playful statue atop it looked almost mocking, like the world had no right to look so colorful after everything. 

Eret shed her armour and guided the hybrid to one of the spare rooms. “It isn’t much and I’m no interior decorator. Help yourself to whatever you can use.” 

“Okay.” 

They stood by the doorway, considering the benefits of getting Ranboo something and leaving him alone.

“Can I ask one thing?” Ranboo muttered. 

“Anything, kid. Go ahead.” 

“Okay, okay. This might be a bit much, but is it okay if you just stay here. I’m sorry, I just - I don’t want to be by myself. Sorry, that probably sounds selfish with everything that’s - “ 

Eret unpinned their cloak and held it out to the hybrid. “You don’t have to be sorry. It sounds like you’re thinking about a lot. I can stay and you can come with me to get some of my spare potions later. Is that alright?” 

Ranboo had hung his glasses on his suit. He cautiously looked between the cape and himself, then reached out to run his fingers through the fluffy collar. Eret unfolded the cape and let it rest on his shoulders. 

“If things turn to shit - when this is all over, do you want to stay here?” Eret asked. 

“I don’t know.” Ranboo squeezed his knees close to his chest. “Phil - I know you don’t like him but he said I could go to his home. I’m sorry I know you don’t like me being friends with him - “ 

“No, no, I wasn’t gonna say that.” She shook her head. “I don’t know a lot about him other than he’s with Techno and he’s Wilbur’s dad.”

They silently added _’That explains a few things.’_

“Anyways, you seem like a smart kid.” He adjusted his crown. “In some ways, I think you’re better than all of us. Whatever you decide to do, I promise I won’t go after you for it.” 

The hybrid started to shake again. “But what if Dream blackmails you? He’s taken your crown, what if I stay and he takes your castle or gets Techno to blow it up or something else?” 

“Then maybe I can go with Phil. He seems to have the right idea; getting away from all the bullshit here.” 

“Would you really do that? I mean, losing everyone and not having somewhere that’s yours?” 

He sighed, head thumping against the cool stone. “It wouldn’t be the first time. But I’d know I’d be doing it for a good cause this time.” 

“Oh.” 

The two were silent for a long period. At some point, Ranboo leaned against their shoulder and passed back Eret’s glasses.

“Thanks.”

She smiled and wrapped an arm over his back. 

“You’re safe.”


End file.
